Turkeys in the Burbs
I was raised in the city, so I’m easily amused when there’s wildlife bigger than a squirrel in our yard. Last week this gang of four wild turkeys traipsed through my yard, showing off how delectably plump and ready they were for Thanksgiving. Show-offs! You’re just asking for trouble.
As you can see, even before Halloween my thoughts had already been heading in the direction of the bird. I love Thanksgiving. It’s all about tradition and food – a combination that can’t be beat! So my attention was captured this morning when a recipe website called AllRecipes.com sent me a press release about their “grassroots effort” called “Respect the Bird”. Of course, I hardly think an effort promoted by one of the largest recipe sites on the web can be called a grassroots effort but, that detail aside, I like the way they think. This campaign is all about keeping Thanksgiving week about the turkey and the fixings, and not about Black Friday and Christmas shopping. It’s about giving more thought and effort to the spirit behind Thanksgiving, and not treating it like a comma, a pause, between Halloween and Christmas.
Personally, I’ve never been about the Black Friday rush to the stores. Even on a quiet day at the mall, I quickly tire of walking around under fluorescent lights. But, even if I’m not compelled to head out to the malls, that doesn’t mean I don’t feel assaulted by the incessant, blaring marketing messages we will hear from now until Black Friday and beyond. I can’t argue that the “holiday” season, which in itself has become disassociated from its original roots, isn’t important for a consumer driven economy. But we can’t allow the marketing to overwhelm the message, the commercials to drown out the thankfulness, the shiny new things to overwhelm the traditions and roots.
So, grassroots or not, I can get behind the message to Respect the Bird, to slow down and enjoy this holiday that doesn’t require a shopping binge beyond a trip to your favorite supermarket to stock up on the essentials for our favorite day of feasting and family.
How about you?
Pancetta Pizza and Customizable Food
I think I’ve really gotten this homemade pizza thing down pat. I finally found a recipe for pizza dough that makes as good of a dough as you would hope for in the home kitchen. And I really love that I can top it with whatever strikes my mood and fancy. This pizza was Friday night’s dinner. It was topped with pancetta, wild mushrooms and black olives. The cheese was a combination of fresh mozzarella and locatelli. It was a family pleaser all around, except for the mushrooms that were picked off by Louisa. Oh well, her loss is my gain. I also found a few minutes to mix up my own garlic vinaigrette for the salad. It was good enough to keep away any vampire within ten miles.
I haven’t really covered news stories on this site in recent months. But my sister brought a very interesting story to my attention over the weekend. It seems that Star Trek food has become a reality with the invention of 3D food printing. The inventors believe that this invention will someday become as ubiquitous as the microwave. It combines food cartridges with 3D extruding technology to create customized food. Although, I’m not sure whether I would ever call it food, but a customized edible object, instead. Just think of the possibilities. Bacon for breakfast in the shape of a little piggy. Carrots that look like a piece of candy. Mashed potatoes that resemble a volcano. No, wait, that’s already been done for years by children of all ages. While some may consider it a good idea, it takes away all the fun of playing with the food on your plate, so how good could it really be?
Home Cooking Isn’t Rocket Science
Readers of this site can see that I usually follow recipes from cooking magazines or cookbooks I receive for review for my Entertaining site. I have a small “repertoire” of recipes I cook when I don’t have time to select a recipe from one of these sources, but by cooking from these other recipes, it keeps me from the trap of cooking the same thing repeatedly. After years of being spoiled by my eclectic cooking, I think I would very quickly hear howls of protest if my cooking became repetitive. Yes, pasta every Sunday is acceptable, but that’s tied more to tradition than to dining excitement.
After many years of cooking these official recipes, it all begins to look the same to me. Restaurant chefs will list recipes with 20 ingredients to look gourmet, but usually it becomes a chaotic, contrived plate in my book. I believe less is more. Every month each magazine has its collection of 3 dozen or so recipes, but it’s really all variations on a theme. Hamburgers – 20 Different Ways Your Family Will Love! Chicken Every Day of the Month and They Won’t Mind! Salads – Salmon! Chicken! Beef! Quinoa! New, New New!
Not really.
Call me jaded.
Last night I made this Spinach and Chicken Salad recipe from the “Food Network Magazine” that I’ve been cooking from most of this week. As I’m going through the process, I’m wondering why I’m following it when I know that it won’t be popular with all my diners, and I’m not even loving the dressing as I whip it up.
I could have easily created my own, family friendly variation of this spinach salad. Spinach, sauteed chicken, almonds, cranberries – so far, all good – bacon, cranberry vinaigrette, green onions. That may have pleased everyone. Once you know the basic themes and skills for home cooking, it’s just not rocket science.
That led me to wonder what I would do if I ever stopped writing about entertaining and food. Would I stop following recipes and either depend on my “repertoire” of 20 or so recipes, or make up variations on a theme as I just did with this spinach salad? I suppose if I didn’t try last night’s recipe, I wouldn’t have known that I’m not too keen on an apple cider vinegar dressing. I also wouldn’t have included the belgian endive, which I love, because I know Louisa dislikes bitter greens and it wouldn’t have jumped to mind as an ingredient. So, would I still bother to spend the time to review recipes each week and carefully craft my shopping list? Or would I simply ignore the howls I’d receive about the lack of variation and make my meal prep easier in exchange for dining variety. I wonder.